Penn Twp. eagle temporarily grounded, veterans look for help
When members of the Penn Township Veterans Association proudly placed the mighty eagle atop a new stone veterans monument in August 1986, they thought the majestic sculpture with the 13-foot wingspan would swell the hearts of patriotic passersby for generations to come.
The huge eagle was so impressive Glen Greenawalt, 93, one of three surviving charter members of the Penn Township Veterans Association, named the entire structure the Wings of Peace monument.
But what the veterans thought was a stainless steel sculpture of America’s symbol of freedom landing on the monument turned out to be cast aluminum.
The eagle is falling apart now and had to be taken down, which greatly upset the veterans who were involved in raising it 38 years ago at the Penn Township Veterans Memorial at the intersection of Airport and Three Degree roads.
“I’m heartbroken,” said Greenawalt, who served as a Navy flight engineer during the Korean War, as he raised his eyes to the top of the monument.
Veterans at their February meeting mentioned the eagle was beginning to fall. In attendance at the meeting was Shawnee Young, director of the county Veterans Affairs Department.
Young, a Penn Township native, contacted her parents’ neighbor, Joel Hilliard, who she knew had a bucket truck.
“I immediately thought of him,” she said.
Hilliard, a township resident and veteran who served in the Air Force from 1991 to 1996, didn’t hesitate to offer to repair the eagle from the lift on his truck.
“There’s no better thing to help out with (than) our veterans,” he said.
But when Hilliard began examining the bird, it became clear it was in worse shape than anyone thought.
“I came to fix it, but after it started falling apart, we decided to lift it off (the monument),” he said.
Because the cast aluminum rods used by late association member Steve Zavacky to create the impressive eagle are failing, association members reluctantly are facing the fact the eagle must be replaced.
However, the association has no budget or funds to purchase another eagle or have one designed and built.
On Wednesday, March 13, many association members met at the monument to discuss what to do, and were shocked at the frail condition of the eagle as it rested in a trailer attached to Hilliard’s pickup truck.
“Look at this,” said Chuck Kaczmarek, association president, as he held a short length of one of the eagle’s rods. “I can break it with my hand.”
Association member Teddy Trainor said while an employee from the Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport next door cuts the grass at the veterans memorial, he maintains the features there by replacing flags or raising or lowering the main flag as needed.
“People will drive by and call me and say ‘There’s a flag that needs to be replaced,’” Trainor said.
He said people have noticed the absence of the Wings of Peace eagle.
“They are asking where the eagle is,” Trainor said.
As for a replacement, association members are kicking around ideas.
Hilliard, who has joined the association as a result of the eagle project, has pledged $500 toward its replacement or unlikely repair.
Kaczmarek, another of the three remaining charter members at the association, said he wants to replace the eagle and keep the entire veterans memorial property in top-notch shape to honor the late association members who worked to create the small but impressive display almost four decades ago.
“It’s very important to maintain this,” Kaczmarek said. “There are not too many people who honor their veterans like we do in Penn Township.”
Young agreed replacing the eagle atop the monument — all of which was sculpted using stone from Penn Township — is important.
“It honors our veterans here in Penn Township and it’s important for future generations to realize who lived here and what they did for our country,” she said. “Penn Township is in my heart, since I grew up here, so I want to help these guys as much as I can.”
Anyone who is interested in helping the Penn Township veterans place a new eagle atop the Wings of Peace monument can send donations to Shawnee Young, director, Butler County Veterans Services, 124 W. Diamond St., Butler, PA 16001.
Checks should be made out to “Butler County Veterans Services” and all checks should be marked “Wings of Peace.”
More information on the project is available by calling Kaczmarek at 724-524-1350.
